Plainville High School to Receive National Recognition from Special Olympics for Achievements with Inclusion
Special Olympics North America has announced that Plainville High School, a school with Special Olympics Unified Champion School® programming, is receiving national banner recognition for its efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without intellectual disabilities.
Plainville High School is receiving this distinguished status as a result of meeting 10 national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. These standards were developed by a national panel of leaders from the Special Olympics and the education community.
The primary activities within these standards include Special Olympics Unified Sports® where students with and without disabilities train and compete as teammates, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement. National banner schools should also demonstrate they are self-sustainable or have a plan in place to sustain these activities into the future.
The Unified Champion Schools® model is a strategy for schools Pre-K through university that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments, utilizing three interconnected components: Unified Sports, inclusive youth leadership, and whole school engagement. As many as 16 million young people are taking part in inclusive experiences through the Special Olympics.
The Unified Champion Schools® model is supported by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education. This model has been proven, through research, to be an effective and replicable means to providing students with and without disabilities the opportunity to form positive social relationships and promote a socially inclusive school climate.
“Unified is truly for everyone and has helped provide all students a wonderful example of inclusion in our building. I am happy to see the team celebrated! We are grateful to the special education and athletic departments for supporting the growth of this program over the past three years,” said Plainville High School Unified Program Coach, Mikayla Wells.
“I am proud of the students at PHS and how they stepped up to celebrate inclusion throughout the building. The relationships forged between our athletes and our partners can be seen beyond the field and court, “ said Plainville High School Unified Program Coach, Jennifer Jambard.
“PHS is beyond proud of this recognition. Our Unified program has grown under the leadership of Coach Wells and Coach Jambard. Their school wide Inclusion campaign involved the entire school community. We are looking forward to celebrating this recognition as a school,” noted Plainville High School Principal, Jennifer DeLorenzo.
“It is wonderful to see PHS be acknowledged on a national level,” added Superintendent of Schools, Brian Reas.
Plainville High School plans to present the recognition banner to the Unified team at their school wide Class Competition event in November.